Whispers in my Mind
by DragonSyu
Summary: Due to a incident in Ryoma's past he has a split personality. His other self is evil trying to hurt those around him, thus Ryoma takes medicine preventing him from breaking out of the shared prison they call body. But not even Ryoma can stop his own demon from getting his way. Add the Seigaku regulars, Rikkaidai and Hyotei and the freshman has a whole lot of trouble. Yaoi, Cat-Pair
1. Afraid of the other me

A/N: I´m back! :D Missed me? Probably not ^^' But really, I´m so excited to upload this, because I´ve never wrote anything about cat-pair. Well, there´s a first for everything. Before I forget, I wanted to tell you this story is taking place after the nationals.

I`m babbling too much, aren´t I? Then let us start with my new story, shall we? Have fun reading! ;)

Disclaimer: I don´t own Prince of Tennis :P unfortunately...

Warnings: None yet

Pairing: Cat-Pair, nya! :3

Beta: MangaCzarina, it´s the first multi-chaptered story we´re writing together :D

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><p><strong>Whispers in my Mind<strong>

**1. Afraid of the other me**

_He_ was something that shouldn´t be. Someone that existed because of past happenings, that he couldn´t overcome. Ryoma didn´t want it to happen, nobody wanted, however fate wasn´t on his side. Not now, not in the past and probably not in the future. Ryoma didn´t remember. Was this fact good or bad? Perhaps a part of both? Yeah, he had no memories from that time, but _he_ did, that´s why _he_ was like this. Crazy, corrupted and out to hurt every person building an obstacle for him.

Sometimes at night he could still see snippets of memories in dreams, though nothing more. Of course he wanted to know what had happened, but they weren´t his memories anymore. They belonged to _him_, like Ryoma belonged to him. _He_ told him that too many times before and at some point he started believing it. It wasn´t that he wanted to think that way, but they shared a body, a mind, a soul. It was difficult to tune _him_ out. _He_ was always there, waiting in the back of his mind. Waiting for his turn to come.

After one year _he_ became insisting, forcing _his_ way into Ryoma´s consciousness. It caused Ryoma pain, physically not too much, but mentally it was nearly unbearable. His father had been concerned and searched for a way to help with the situation... and he found one. It took one man coming through their front door with a few pills and the pain vanished.

Though it wasn´t only the pain. _He_ had vanished too at that time. There was no voice reminding him of his presence everyday, no pressure overcoming Ryoma signaling the displeased mood the other was in. Nothing. His head felt empty and Ryoma didn´t know if he should be relieved about this fact or shocked. On one hand it was good for his mental health to be alone like this, but on the other hand he had this weird feeling everytime his thoughts wandered to _him_.

After a few weeks he had finally figured out what made him this unsettled. Yes, he was afraid of the other, he didn´t want him to take over and turning everything surrounding him in madness. No, Ryoma didn´t want that, but deep down he had to admit missing _his_ presence. It was a ridiculous idea and he hated himself for this train of thoughts, yet he couldn´t help it, after all _he_ was a part of Ryoma. The part, that had been left by god.

Could he really abandon the person holding the key to his memories? Could he abandon his own demon?

~WimM~

Excitement, joy and thrill pumped through his veins. He didn´t sense the audience around him, nor his team, which stood amazed in the bleachers. All he focused on was the opponent right in front of him, whose face was painted with fierce determination, and the yellow object split in a half whizzing through the air towards him. He felt his body twist to catch the two halves with his racket, hitting them dead on. Like a bullet the pieces of the tennis ball shot past his opponent's head and bounced off the tennis field.

As the referee´s call echoed through the stadium signaling their victory, Ryoma couldn´t move at first, stunned at his own performance. He was broken from his trance as his teammates one after another filled into the court and celebrated their win. Somewhere in the back he could even see their captain with a small satisfied smile playing on his lips. Then he realized that all the boundaries they had overcome lead them to where they were standing now, as the winners. Ryoma laughed as they threw him up cheering and shouting in glee.

Later on the Child of God approached him, sealing things with a handshake full of promises, that they would play again, though next time with the love for their sport in mind. It wasn´t long until the award ceremony was held and the big shiny trophy everybody had yearned for finally landed in their buchou´s hands. After the whole procedure every tennis team, which had experienced losses and wins in this tough tournament, exit the stadium with resolution for the following year to be their win.

Seigaku had decided to revel their victory in Taka´s sushi shop, which said person´s father had generously provided for them. The whole way in the bus the laughter and bright atmosphere didn´t turn down and as they entered the restaurant it immediately filled with life. Altogether it was a mix of many laughter, flying sushi, friendly quarrels and noises cramping the room.

Even though Ryoma was in high spirits he slowly felt the remainders of the match exhausting him. His body and mind felt tired from using Teni Muho no Kiwami, plus a slight headache was making itself noticeable. Deciding some fresh air would do him rather good, the rookie left secretly to not interrupt the others, especially Oishi, who would worry about him again like the mother hen he was.

Skipping through the door silently he took a big gulp of much needed oxygen. Inside the air had been unbearable hot and reeked of fish. Ryoma sat down on the staircase on front of the entrance, closing his eyes relishing the cool breeze of the evening. His head pounded mercilessly and the boy gritted his teeth at the pain.

"Ochibi?" Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Ryoma opened his golden orbs to stare into the worried face of the only person calling him by that nickname. Ryoma realised, that Eiji seemed to wait for an answer.

"It´s nothing." He tried to lie, hoping the red-head would go away. Though his attitude said often otherwise, Ryoma didn´t want to worry others with his problems, especially the acrobatic player, who treated him the kindest out of his teammates. The blue orbs didn´t seem convinced by his answer and Eiji opened his mouth to speak again, concern etched on his face.

"Are you sure, you´re alright? You look extremely pale." Ryoma tried to nod, but a wave of pain overcame him. The rookie gripped his head tightly. This feeling was familiar, though he couldn´t pin-point it. He gasped as the ache grew. He heard Eiji yelling something, but couldn´t understand a word. The outline of the red-head began to blur and the world started to tilt. The last thing he heard before descending into darkness was the echo of a single word inside of his mind.

_"Ryoma..."_

~WimM~

Exactly two hours later, Ryoma woke up. The first thing he saw was the white ceiling, he identified as the one in his room, and after that the face of his father, appearing in front of him. Nanjiroh had a blank mien, but Ryoma could clearly see the troubled look in the others eyes. The freshman tried to sit up, resulting him to flinch at the now weaker headache he still had. "How are you feeling?" Came the question from his father.

"Could be better... What happened?" Nanjiroh gave a frown at Ryoma´s memory gap, but explained nonetheless how his senpai-tachi had turned up at their doorstep not long ago, Momo carrying the freshman on his back. Slowly but surely Ryoma remembered the incident outside of Taka´s family restaurant. The headache, that voice... it was as if he got transported into the past once again.

"It was _him_, wasn´t it?" His father gave a hesitant nod, fumbling with a small box, before handing it to his son. Ryoma took it, knowing the contents very well. He stared at it for a while, eventually opening the lid and taking two pills out. Plopping them into his mouth, he swallowed them down as fast as possible, not liking the taste at all.

"This was the emergency package. I suggest you visit Mamoru, to get a new one." Nanjiroh explained what Ryoma had known all along. Not only did he need to get new pills, it had to be stronger ones too, since he couldn´t trust the current intensity anymore. Suddenly an idea popped into his mind. "Oyaji, what did you tell the regulars?" His dad, for once didn´t comment on the nickname and instead answered the question.

"I explained them, that you collapsed due the Teni Muho no Kiwami being draining for one´s body, if used for the first time." Ryoma nodded approvingly, sometimes he could really rely on his dad, even if he often behaved like a perverted monk. "You should rest some more, since you haven´t recovered fully from that fit yet. I´ll call Mamoru informing him about your visit."

Without saying another word, Nanjiroh exit the room, leaving his son to his own devises. Ryoma lied back down rolling on his side, so he could stare at the starry night sky outside the window. It troubled him slightly that after five years, _he_ came back from the depths of his mind. Ryoma had hoped, that the new medicine would keep _him_ away, since he didn´t want to speak with _him_ or let _him_ take control again. The rookie would prevent it. He wasn´t the one he had been in the past, this body was his. Right?

**To be continued**

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><p>AN: Well that´s it for the prolog :) Maybe it aroused your interest. For those, who already read my other stories, as you have probably noticed I tried a new writing style ;) I hope you still bear with me. And don´t forget to review, you can´t imagine how happy it makes me :D see ya!


	2. Of vacations, scientists & nightmares

A/N: Second chapter is finished :D I´m uploading rather randomly ^^'

Ryoma: Tell me, why am I here again?

Syu: Because you´re the main character.

Ryoma: You having fun making me suffer, don´t you?

Syu: You know I´m a sadist :3 Where´s Eiji-chan?

Ryoma: Don´t know, don´t care.

Syu: *grins* So you do care~

Ryoma: I already said-

Syu: I know, but its written in your face, that you mean the opposite.

Disclaimer: I don´t own Prince of Tennis

Warnings: None yet

Pairing: Cat-Pair, nya! :3 (and some sidepairs like Yuki/Fuji :D)

Beta: MangaCzarina

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><p><strong>Whispers in my mind<strong>

**2. Of vacations, scientists and nightmares**

The day could have started good, but his damn alarm clock had to ruin it jolting him out of his well deserved sleep. Ryoma turned around trying to find the button of that damn nuisance with his eyes still closed. The rookie fumbled around for a while searching for it. Due to annoyance provided by his sleepy mind, he decided to throw the clock at the opposite wall, making the irritating noise finally cease. But of course rest wasn´t granted as his cousin´s voice resounded through the house.

"Ryoma-san! If you don´t stand up, you´ll be late for school!" Groaning at his misery, the freshman sat up slowly rousing from the messy bed. "Ryoma-san!"

"I´m up!" He replied half yelling, half yawning. Still sleep drunken the teen changed sluggishly into his school uniform and got his bag and more importantly his tennis equipment. "I hate mornings..." Was the curse muttered under his breath. Who on earth planned for students to stand up at ungodly hours?! Oh yeah, it was those old geezers calling themselves politicians.

Luckily breakfast was already waiting for him, unfortunately it was american-styled breakfast consisting of toast, eggs and bacon. Oh joy...this day couldn´t get any worse. "Ohayou, Ryoma-san." Greeted Nanako him with a cheery smile. He couldn´t understand how the woman could be so energetic. From his father there was no greeting, since the pervert was engrossed in one of his porn magazines. Well it didn´t bother Ryoma, he rather had the monk staying quiet than whining about how his son should bring a young lady home as a girlfriend.

As if that ever would happen, because, dear friends, our rookie was sure of one fact. He was gay. How he discovered that? Well it had to do with a certain acrobatic player and senpai, in whom he had fallen in love with. Who knows, some people might find it disgusting, not that the freshman cared. He wasn´t afraid of outing himself, but he wasn´t keen on it either. Maybe it was laziness on his part, however he wanted to avoid the many explanations.

"Mamoru awaits you after tennis training." Informed him Nanjiroh, having just noticed his son´s presence in the room. Ryoma simply nodded busy with tearing the chewy bacon apart, so that the food would enter his mouth at last. It was literally a fight, in which Ryoma was the winner, nevertheless the bacon had been a tough opponent. Hopefully he still had enough time to eat his toast before Momo arrived.

"ECHIZEN!" Speaking of the devil. Quickly dumping the leftover into the trashcan and setting the dishes into the sink, the rookie hurried outside with a curt good-bye. Momo expected him sitting leisurely on his bike. "Yo Echizen, how are you? You gave us quite the surprise yesterday."

"I´m fine." Knowing his friend was not a morning person, the sophomore didn´t bother to dug deeper in his questioning. Waiting until the freshman had perched himself onto the backseat, they began their everyday mad-dash to school.

~WimM~

"O-chi-bi~" A second after the exclamation the freshman was engulfed in the bear-crushing hug of his red-haired senpai. Ryoma had seen it coming, but that didn´t mean he could avoid it, besides the come-we-squeeze-Ochibi-until-he-can´t-breath-anymore attacks weren´t as uncomfortable as the first few times Eiji had surprised him with his forward attitude. The first-year even admitted, that he enjoyed the warmth from being embraced by the acrobatic player, though he would never say that out loud. "Ne, how are your feeling?"

Ryoma nearly smiled at the honest question. "I would be better if you let me go." Of course that was a lie, but they still had practice and Ryoma didn´t intend on run laps again for coming late.

"That´s mean!" He smirked at the pouting red-head, before shouldering his tennis bag.

"You better hurry up or buchou will have you running laps, Kikumaru-senpai."

Practice was not spectacular. Ryoma was just glad, that the excitement of their win was more interesting than the news of him collapsing, though there were still a few guys with a big mouth-, he stared particular at Arai and his buddies at this, -that spread word he couldn´t handle the stress and such. What idiots, if they only knew. During their warm-ups it seemed like the tennis club or rather the regulars had gained a massive audience of reporters and squealing fangirls, which most of them ignored. Hopefully they wouldn´t bother them after training. However they needn´t to worry about those things, because Ryuuzaki-sensei called the nine boys to her office right after finishing practice.

"I have an announcement to make and I think it would benefit all of you." The group didn´t know what to make of the creepy grin their trainer was showing them. "You were invited on a two-week holiday to praise your achievement in the nationals." Seems legit- "Hyotei and Rikkaidai will go with you." Rejoiced too soon. The woman distributed small flyers showing a large amount of trees and mountains. That cleared the question to where the travel would go.

"Your bus will go in one week at ten o'clock. No trainers will accompany you, cause we all think you´re old enough to look out for yourselves. The captains will be in responsibility. That´s all, you´re dismissed." With that they shuffled out of the small office chattering about the incoming event. A vacation and two weeks nonetheless, someone had been really generous to sponsor all of this. The matter it self was a good idea, but what should the freshman do about _him_? Maybe Mamoru-san knew advice?

~WimM~

School and after-noon practice were already over, thus the rookie headed to his next destination for today, walking along a rather desolated street in a unhurried manner. Reaching the house he was searching for, the teen rang the doorbell, waiting patiently for an answer. There was a rustle, before finally a voice resounded from the intercom. **"Hello?"**

"It´s me, Mamoru-san."

**"Ah, Ryoma-kun. Wait a second, I´ll open the door."** The well-known buzz of the door could be heard and Ryoma pushed it, entering the small town-house. The freshman put his things aside, though he wouldn´t strip of his shoes, since in this domicile one had to be careful in and on what they stepped. Being familiar with coming here, Ryoma immediately sought out the first room on the right, the home-lab. Inside was a middle-aged man working on who knows what. As the teen came in the adult turned around giving him a grin.

Ryoma had to hold back his laughter. "What happened to your hair?"

The man frowned rubbing a scorched lock between his thumb and index finger. "This? It happened a while ago during a test run for my new experiment." This was just so typical... By the way, this guy was called Tanaka Mamoru, a scientist, childhood friend of Ryoma´s father and the one producing the rookie´s pills. Normally he had short chest-nut brown hair, which was always a bit disheveled, and forest green eyes covered with large glasses. Even though the man was a bit...special to deal with, he was a genius if it came to medicine and science.

"Talking about tests, I´ll have to check the condition of your brainwaves to adapt the intensity of the pills." Mamoru was talking while already walking out of the room, making Ryoma sweatdrop and hurry after him as they entered another room, which had an examination table and other equipment. The scientist had once told him, that all of that had been designed for him, the only patient with such a special problem. Somehow it made Ryoma feel weird and a little guilty, cause he knew his father had provided the money to improve his condition.

Well the actual examination wasn´t much trouble. The freshman had to put on a helmet-thingy, really he didn´t know the name, aiding Mamoru with scanning the happenings inside his brain to estimate the damage, disturbances, brainwaves, etc. Ryoma couldn´t explain everything in detail, after all he was just the patient.

"Oh! What do we have here? Interesting, indeed very interesting...Ryoma-kun please take off the Mamoru brain checker." So that was the name, no wonder he forgot it. After placing the-, he didn´t want to say it, -Mamoru brain checker on the examination table, Ryoma followed the scientist´s hand gesture and approached the many monitors the elder was sitting in front of. "Do you have any idea what that is?" Mamoru pointed at something red being displayed on the left monitor.

"Uh...no?"

"These are the strings connecting your neurocytes with your brain. Brainwaves are sent through this part to form incitations in actions. As you have probably seen, you possess two regions of strings, one kind represents your consciousness and the other _his_. In the moment you have predominance, but there´s stirring something." Ryoma gave the man a confused gaze at which the other sighed. "Basically I´m trying to tell you, that _he_ is getting stronger and struggles against the wall we built. I don´t know if you´ll be able to hold him in for much longer."

"Why?! Can´t you just raise the intensity of the pills?"

"It´s not that easy. I can make them stronger, but only a little bit. If I go any further your body and mind will receive considerable damage."

"I see..." This was getting much worse than the freshman had thought. Maybe it´s time to explain what´s the issue with our dear Ryoma. You see, due to an incident six years ago, which Ryoma can´t remember, he developed a split personality. However his other self wasn´t the good kind of guy, rather the opposite. _He_ had tried hurting many people and back then Ryoma wasn´t strong enough to remain in control all the time. This had led his father to contact Mamoru, who created a medicine oppressing _him_, so Ryoma could live an ordinary life as much as possible.

"I´ll have the pills ready by saturday. Can you come to get them? My schedule is very tight at the moment considering the upcoming science exhibition."

"Sure, I´ll be going then."

"Take care, Ryoma-kun."

~WimM~

**The scent of cigarette smoke. A wolf, but not living. Loud voices yelled, one screamed. Everything was hazy as he looked around the room. "Let me go!" Again, this familiar voice.**

**A change of scenery. "What about him?" Footsteps. Something dripped on his clothes. **

**"Okaa-chan!" Was that his voice? "Don´t do it!"**

_**"Ryoma...I can help you."**_

Golden eyes snapped open as Ryoma woke from his nightmare. Sweat was covering his body making his pyjama sticky. Sitting up the freshman run his shaking fingers through his hair. What had he been dreaming about? He couldn´t remember at all and still it left him this distressed. He clapped his cheeks a few times, trying to get a grip, after all it had been just a dream.

With silent movement the rookie stood up, quickly changing his clothes and returning to his now fortunately cool bed. It was better to get some more sleep than bothering about something trivial like a nightmare. But still after calming down and drifting off in an unsettled sleep his night was everything beside peaceful.

**To be continued**

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><p>AN: That was more difficult to write than I thought. Just that you know, I read some articles about split-personalities, so Mamoru´s medical explanation should be correct. Please tell me what you thought about this chapter. :D See ya!


	3. Of blushing and teasing

A/N: OMG I´m so sorry for the long wait! T_T I had a really busy and stressful time, but I know that´s no excuse. Gomenasai!

Disclaimer: I don´t own Prince of Tennis

Warnings: None yet

Pairing: Cat-Pair, nya! And Yuki/Fuji in this one X3 Seriously, I have to write a one-shot about them.

Beta: MangaCzarina

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><p><strong><strong>Whispers in my mind<strong>**

**3. Of blushing and teasing**

Ryoma stared intently at the flyer they were given as information for the trip. Worry kept bothering him as he thought about was Mamoru had told him. If _he_ was really berserking against his prison, this whole vacation would turn out to be a living hell. Perhaps the freshman could tell them that he couldn´t go on the holiday? ...No that wouldn´t work, his father already gave his permission and Ryuzaki-sensei received it, besides the trip was already tomorrow. Seems like he just had to bear with it. Sighing the rookie put the brochure on his night table and went to sleep.

The next morning was peaceful, birds chirped their daily tune, flowers bloomed around the garden. Yeah everything was- "I´m late!"...alright. Nanako cringed as she heard the rumbling and crashing from upstairs. The woman had assumed her cousin was already awake, since she had called him quite a few times, but as she was aware now this wasn´t the case. Nanjiroh just yawned in disinterest in his son´s activities, he rather lay on the porch basking in the sunlight.

"Oyaji! Can you drive me to school?!" The adult knew exactly, that his son stood behind him, he could tell by the exhaust panting.

"The car is broken."

"What?! You can´t be serious?!"

"You´re right, it was joke, seishounen." It was fun teasing the youngsters from nowadays.

Ryoma really wanted to punch his dad for foxing him, but there was no time. "Haha. Great, can we get going now?!" Nanjiroh just waved his hand, signalling the rookie to pack his things in the car, while he lazily stood up and followed. A few minutes later the two sat in the vehicle, Ryoma urging his father to start the engine, which he did with movements of a slug. Ryoma heaved a sigh of relief as they where on their way finally.

Practically it had been his fault for waking up late, cause he trashed his clock the other day, but his father could be a bit more considered of his current predicament and hurry up! The first year knew on the inside Nanjiroh was sincerely amused about his behavior, that bastard. "Have you forgotten anything?" What a dumb question to ask now, when they were halfway to Seigaku. Just shaking his head with a huff, the freshman stared out of the window for the rest of the ride.

~WimM~

Ryuzaki-sensei made a check mark on her clipboard seeing their youngest regular jogging towards them. "Ryoma, you're the last one to arrive. Any explanations for that?" She raised an eyebrow as the teen just glared at his father. "I see."

"The hell old hag! I didn´t do anything!" The elder woman just hit the monk over the head with her fist for calling her like that, making him rub the slowly building bump. As the Samurai saw his son about to enter the bus, he grabbed his hand. Ryoma turned around giving him a confused gaze. "Be careful, Ryoma." The freshman nodded smiling benignly, before he stepped inside leaving Nanjiroh and his former coach outside.

"So even you can act like a father sometimes."

"Shut up..." Came the muttered reply. A second later another bruise was forming on his head.

Inside Ryoma was just trying to heave his suitcase onto the luggage rack, but somehow he couldn´t quite reach it. He cursed his size. Why was he even drinking milk, when it did nothing to help him grow?! Groaning in annoyance he tried again only to fail as predicted. The others didn´t notice his dilemma or simply choose to say nothing, but as the teen heard Momo snicker behind him a vein popped. Instead of laughing the ass could lend him a hand!

Gritting his teeth in irritation the freshman gave it another try, resulting in him losing balance and toppling backwards. And guess where he landed? Directly on top of Eiji, who had seconds ago chatted with Oishi happily. The red-head blinked at the freshman in his lap, who felt, immediately after realizing where he had landed, his cheeks warming up. "Ochibi, you´re alright?"

Ryoma nodded, simply and utterly embarrassed. The acrobatic player caught sight of his luggage and pieced the puzzle parts together. "Want help with your suitcase?" He didn´t even wait for an answer, instead just grabbed said item and positioned it on the rack for him. Ryoma left with a small thanks, glowing red as a ripe cherry.

During the bus ride the freshman couldn´t even look at his red-haired senpai let alone speak with him, honestly he was just too bashful to do it. After a while however Ryoma sorted his chaotic thoughts and decided it was the best to get some sleep, since they would be driving for a while. Of course not everything goes as planned. Even as the teen tried to take a nap the constant loud noises from the others kept him from doing so.

Eiji cheered for the two sophomores who were arguing about something unnecessary again. Inui rambled something about how much food all of them could eat before throwing up, rather disgusting to be researching something like that. Oishi vociferously worried about Taka, who seemed to be a bit green from the shaking of the bus. The only ones being quiet were obviously Tezuka, as he read a book, and Fuji, who listened to music. This was going to be a long drive...

~WimM~

With a tired sigh Ryoma heaved his luggage onto the bed. As they arrived Rikkaidai and Hyotei were already present occupying two of the three sleeping dorms available in the holiday camp, which left Seigaku to fill into the last building. There hadn´t been much conversation, but the three tennis captains decided to meet in order to sort things out. However one thing was sure, after hours of sitting in the bus they planned to go on a small hike to the nearby waterfalls. Of course there were complains, though most of them were glad to stretch their legs for a while.

They were divided in groups of two, cause each room harboured two beds and enough room in the closet for two persons. However one of them had to get a room alone due to their uneven number, this person turned out to be their captain, who just wanted a quiet good night sleep. Nobody could blame him, since sometimes they had to admit themselves, that they could be quite a handful.

The freshman decided to unpack his suitcase in the evening, not having the nerve to do it right now. He rather watched his roommate fumbling with the zipper of his case, not able to open the way to jam-packed object. An amused smirk grazed his lips as Momo ruffled his hair in frustration. This was sweet revenge for laughing at him in the bus. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Momo being still occupied couldn´t go open it and Ryoma was too lazy to stand up. "Come in!" A second afterwards Fuji poked his head into the room, everlasting smile on his face.

"Are you guys finished yet? The others are already gathering at the meeting place." With a hand wave at Momo everything was clear. "Ok, but don´t take too long." With that the door shut, leaving them by theirselves again.

"Momo-senpai, you can do that later." With a sigh the older teen admitted defeat against his suitcase. The two grabbed their hiking bags and left the room.

~WimM~

It had been a tirade to reach the waterfalls. Their captains had built three groups for each path with random members. Let´s just say Ryoma´s group did get a little lost. Their leader was Atobe and to everyone´s bewilderment the monkey king decided he didn´t need a map, because he would find his way with his keen senses. This resulted in eight lost boys, who had to be recovered by the others.

"Finally~ I thought we would never leave that forest!" As soon as they took their first steps into the open area, Kirihara collapsed on the floor. "I never want to be in a group with Atobe again."

"Don´t complain you peasant. Ore-sama did nothing wrong." The teen flicked his hair arrogantly staring down at his younger. "It was your fault for disrupting my concentration." Before the black-haired Rikkaidai student could give a snippy retort, Atobe had already stalked away, leaving him to sulk.

The waterfalls were splendid. Due to the sunny weather and the wetness in the air, rainbows hung around the downfall giving the scenery something enchanting. Most of them had settled down, relaxing in the peaceful nature and eating their lunch. Some even dared to test the ice-cold waters of the stream connecting to the largest cascade, this resulted into a big splashing fight, which amused the watchers.

Eiji, for once not joining in, nudged Ryoma in the side and nodded to Fuji who was enthralled by something, a bigger than normal smile playing on his lips. The freshman looked around to catch what fascinated his senpai this much and soon his gaze stopped at the blue-haired Rikkaidai captain. He grinned at Eiji, both having the same thoughts. "Earth to Fujiko! You´re still with me?"

Fuji jumped, suddenly being interrupted in his staring. "Ah! Yes, I was just- um..."

"Staring at Yukimura-senpai?" The rookie helpfully supplied. The brunette blushed slightly at being caught.

"You´re like him~" Eiji and Ryoma smirked, but stopped as soon as a dark aura began to form around Fuji.

"One word and you´re dead."

"H-hai." Stuttered the red-head, while Ryoma just nodded furiously. They gulped as the aura began to dissipate. Man...Fuji could be scary as hell. Though they had regained valuable information and couldn´wait to see how this would play out.

~WimM~

Ryoma stared at his luggage in horror. He had spread his stuff out on the bed, but something important was missing. Searching through his things again and again, he was still presented with nothing. No, no, no, no, no! Out of all things he forgot his pills! The rookie could rip his hair out, because of his own stupidity. Just this morning his dad had asked if he had packed everything! "What are you doing, Echizen?"

Ryoma flinched at the sudden voice rousing him from his thoughts. He turned to find Momo standing by the bathroom door, hair still wet, giving him a quizzically look. "I was..." Making up excuses wasn´t his best trade. "looking for...my cell!"

Momo didn´t comment on the weird behaviour, instead he pointed somewhere behind the first year. "It´s on your nightstand." Ryoma took a glance behind him and went to pick the device up.

"Uhh...thanks. I´m going to take a shower now." He brushed past his senior and closed the door with a click. Momo was left standing alone in the room, gaping dumbly at the door.

"Taking a shower with... his mobile phone? Why?"

~WimM~

Ryoma let the water beat down on his body relinquishing the sensation. A cold shower had always helped him calming down and reviewing his problems. He forgot his medicine, which was really bad, but he still a package in his bag, which he plugged in this morning. He took one pill already, which meant only five where left...When he used them all up, _he_ would come out.

He was so busted.

**To be continued**

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><p>AN: Well...from now the chapters will come regularly again. Btw what do you think about my little Yuki/Fuji scene?

Ryoma: Unneccessary.

Syu: I didn´t ask you! *to the readers* I hope you´ll wait for the next chapter, because this time it won´t take a month :D See ya!


	4. The mountain from hell

A/N: New chappie~ And with it an announcement :3 though it´s kinda awkward

Ryoma: Just say it *annoyed glare* Girls...always fussing about unnecessary stuff.

Syu: *Sticks tongue out* Okay, okay. Well I have planned some...sex scenes in later chapters. It´s just a warning for those who don´t like such stuff, and for those who are like me (perverted): Hope you have something to look forward to now ;)

Ryoma: *paled considerably while listening to Syu´s words* S-sex?!

Inui: *scribbles in his notebook* Just like I thought. Echizen appears to be embarrassed about such topics...

Ryoma: *blushes*

Disclaimer: I don´t own Prince of Tennis

Warnings: None yet

Pairing: Cat-Pair, nya!

Sidepairs: Fuji/Yuki, slight D2 Pair (Jackal/Marui) and if you close both both eyes and try to find it Cap-Pair

Beta: MangaCzarina, thanks for editing! X3

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><p><strong><strong>Whispers in my mind<strong>**

**4. The mountain from hell  
><strong>

**It was cold and dark. He shivered, afraid of the void around him. What was this place? He stood up trying to walk on wobbly legs. The ground was covered with black water going to his ankles. He trudged through the liquid in search of- ...he didn´t know. Was there even anything here?**

**"Please..." He snapped around at the quiet voice, though found nothing behind him. Imagination? Probably...Still he waited, standing there for minutes. Until... "NOOOO!" The scream echoed through the silence, anguished and sorrowful. He could feel it in every fiber of his body. He hadn´t heard it before yet it was familiar.**

**_"Ryoma..."_ He jumped as something grabbed his shoulder. _"Do you want to forget?"_**

~WimM~

"Ne Echizen, are you alright?" Ryoma looked up from his plate, meeting Taka´s concerned gaze.

"Yeah, what makes you think otherwise?" The brunette shifted his gaze to the barely touched food in front of the freshman. Ryoma had to admit it was not like him to just leave food standing, instead he would gulp it down at sight. Though not this time. He´d been having these weird dreams lately and they were making him wonder. Everytime the rookie had one, he would try to find out it´s meaning, which lead to his out of place behaviour. "Don´t worry Kawamura-senpai, I´m just not eating that much in the mornings." It wasn´t a lie.

"I understand, but you should eat more, since we´re having the hiking trip today." The freshman let a small smile grace his lips as his senpai turned away from him. The brunette was a good person. He had fighting spirit and the ambition to give his all. Yet in spite of that Taka possessed a meek and considerate personality and was someone to hear you out at any given moment. And the brunette was often right, which is why Ryoma gave himself a start and finally began eating.

~WimM~

"We´re climbing that thing?!" The three tennis teams stood in front of huge mountain with a narrow path leading to the top. It towered before them like a large gatekeeper determined to not let them through. At Mukahi´s exclamation, the team captains checked their maps again.

"Yeah we´re right. We just need to follow the trail, climb at a few spots and should be up there in one or two hours." That said Atobe, the self-proclaimed leader(at this a few had rolled their eyes in annoyance), began to guide the group up, while Mukahi just stood there dumbfounded. Niou passed him with a smirk.

"You´re an acrobatic player, which means you shouldn´t have any problems climbing a tiny mountain like that. Besides Kikumaru-san seems to have fun." Mukahi´s gaze automatically went to his rival, who was apparently in a very good mood, jumping around and humming a foreign tune.[A/N: Sry I have to say it XD please don´t imitate Eiji-chan and bop around while on a mountain path]. With the intentions to not give that wimp a head start Mukahi immediately raced to the path. Niou whistled at the speed the Hyotei regular showed.

Soon everyone came to a point where the climbing gear they had borrowed beforehand was much needed. But attaching the many belts and clasps was a confusing and bothersome ordeal. Ryoma had a few problems himself but in the end he, like everyone else, began ascending the mountain from hell. Since it had been raining the night before, the stones were wet, making it much more difficult to reach their destination.

The freshman really watched out for slick areas, though one time he didn´t manage to find a secure foothold and slipped, making him fall backwards. Luckily a hand found it´s way around his wrist before he could topple down the cliff. Ryoma, who had closed his eyes in sudden fear, opened them to peer upwards at his rescuer. It was the vice captain of Rikkaidai. Sanada pulled him up, until he had his feet on solid ground again before he let go of the rookie´s arm.

Body still in shock, Ryoma sat there panting. He couldn´t move a muscle as the others slowly crowded around them. "You should be more careful. Even with that climbing gear it could have ended bad if I hadn´t caught you in time." Warned him Sanada. Ryoma just nodded a bit baffled. He wanted to thank the raven head, but got no chance to do so as two arms trapped themselves around him.

"Ochibi! Never do this again! I nearly got an heartattack!" The anger and relief was more than evident in Eiji´s voice. His breath tickled the teen´s cheek and made him go red, which got him a few curious stares from those surrounding them. At last the red-head let go of him, giving the freshman some much needed free space. "Are you alright?" He asked now a bit more serious. Again Ryoma could only nod.

"Maybe we should take a break." Sounded Tezuka´s voice from within the mass of tennis players. As if to agree the stunned audience parted and searched for places to sit on the rocky ledge.

~WimM~

Luckily the trip down the mountain had been not so dangerous and unsettling. It still put Ryoma´s teeth on edge when he thought about his nearly-falling-down-a-cliff experience, but he decided to push the thoughts away and concentrate on other matters like finding his rescuer and giving him a proper thanks. True to that, he wandered around the Rikkaidai dorm searching for Sanada´s room, the Golden Pair; Taka; Fuji and Momo following him every step. Since the accident on the mountain they hung to his hip like nasty insects waiting for the opportunity to suck his blood. Of course he knew they were worried (yeah even Fuji, the sadist), but chasing after him for four straight hours, even at dinner time they had a close eye on him, was a bit much.

"Senpai-tachi..." Ryoma took a deep breath. It wasn´t like him to loose his cool and he wouldn´t begin with it now. "Could you all please stop following me?"

"But Echizen, we´re-" Oishi`s attempt to justify their actions got interrupted as Marui Bunta rounded the corner in company of Kuwahara Jackal. Both stopped as they saw the group of Seigaku regulars. Marui popped his bubble gum before announcing his presence with a grin. "Ohh~ Seigaku. What are you doing here?" Ryoma turned his attention to red-head, deciding to ignore his friends for now.

"I´m looking for Sanada´s room."

"And what would you want there, Echizen? Searching for secret porn magazines our vice-captain harbours?" That didn´t faze the freshman at all, since his father himself was a perverted monk. As something moved behind Marui, the rookie´s gaze fell on Jackal, who held up three fingers and then pointed to the right.

"I see. It´s the third door on the right then."

He got a bewildered look from the self-claimed volley genius. "Hey, how did you-" Marui followed Ryoma´s eyes and sighed. "Man, Jackal. You´re such party pooper."

The bald teen shrugged. "You would have never given him the directions."

"Mada mada dane, Marui-senpai." Ryoma brushed past him the well-known cocky smirk playing on his lips. He gave Jackal a thankful nod, before continuing his way, senpai-tachi still following him. The two Rikkaidai students stared after them. Suddenly Marui grabbed Jackal´s arm dragging him away, out of earshot.

"Have you seen it too?" The red-head questioned eagerly.

"What?"

"The way Kikumaru-san looked at the chibi." Jackal didn´t comment the choice of Ryoma´s new nickname, instead he gave his friend a considering look.

"You mean those two..." The volley-specialist nodded so fervently Jackal thought his head would fall off any second. "Well on the cliff there was definitely something going on." The other opened his mouth to say something, but the defense player held his hand up. "I know what you want to do. But do you really think it´s a good idea to interfere with other people´s business?"

"Jackal~"

Oh lord no. Jackal cursed god for creating puppy dog eyes. Sighing he rubbed the back of his neck looking anywhere but at his double-partner. "Fine...but don´t overdo it."

"Yes!"

~WimM~

"Echizen..." The surprised face of Yukimura Seiichi greeted him the second the door was opened. Having great respect for the blue-haired player since their game at the nationals, Ryoma gave an acknowledging tug of his cap before speaking.

"Is your vice-captain in?"

"Genichirou? Just a moment." He went off to fetch the capped teen, while Seigaku members waited outside. Ryoma gave Fuji a curt look and Eiji nudged the brunette slightly in the rips. They only got a smile in reply, but knew the tensai had understood to take his chance. A few seconds later Yukimura slid out of the room, Sanada at his side.

~WimM~

"Isn´t it kinda strange to see your freshman thanking someone?" Yukimura asked the brunette beside him. They leaned against the wall taking in the scene in front of them. Sanada and Ryoma still stood by the door speaking, while Momo; Eiji; Oishi and Taka were engaged in a heated conversation waiting for their rookie to finish his task. "I don´t know, but recently he seems more polite."

Fuji chuckled. "That´s depends on the person he associates with. For example you and Tezuka, the two of you have somehow gained his respect, though that´s not really surprising. How about you, do you have great respect for a special person?" Normally it would be a weird topic to talk about, but to the two of them it appeared perfectly normal.

"I don´t know...perhaps Genichirou. He was always there when I needed him. We´re childhood friends and he´s the person I can depend on." At this Fuji´s eyes opened for just a millisecond. Should he ask? Better now than never.

"Do you like him?"

Yukimura nodded, but then laughed heartly. "Yes, though not the way you mean. He´s just my best friend, there´s nothing more between us." The blue haired teen didn´t know why he was having such a conversation with the tensai in the first place. Somehow it was easier to speak with him. Maybe because they were similiar in their attitudes? Thinking about that, he hadn´t seen the brunette´s shoulders sag with relief at his words.

"Fuji-senpai, we´re going without you if you don´t hurry!" Came the sudden call from Momo. The tensai pushed himself of the wall, giving the Rikkaidai captain a sincere smile.

"I hope we can talk sometime again." Yukimura agreed with a nod and watched the brunette join his teammates.

~WimM~

_"Ryoma..."_

The freshman looked at Fuji, who was walking beside him on their way back to the dorm. "Did you say something, Fuji-senpai?"

The brunette diverted his attention to his kouhai. "No, why?"

"Nevermind. Must have been my imagination." Weird... He could have sworn somebody said his name, though nobody of those present called the rookie by his firstname. He felt a slight headache building as he mused about it. It was time again to take his pills, however he coudn´t do it in front of everyone else, they were concerned enough for his sake.

_"D- you want...fight-...again...ma?"_ Oh shit, now he knew who had called him. Without further ado he grabbed the medicine from his pocket with the intention to take a pill.

"What are these for, Echizen?" Fuji´s sharp eyes had of course detected the freshman´s actions.

"Uh...medicine for headaches." The tensai raised an eyebrow.

_"Ryo-...know...hear me...arly...don´t resist."_ A shiver ran down his back at the slightly irritated whisper. But the sentences were still snatchy, that was a good thing.

"Are you alright?" He nodded hastily. "Well, the day was not exactly uneventful. I heard one gets headache from too much stress."

"That must be the reason..." Came the muttered response before the rookie finally swallowed a pill. Great relief washed over him as the pill slipped down his throat. Safe...for now.

**To be continued...**

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><p>AN: The review button needs a lot of love, if you press it, it will be very grateful~ X3 See ya!


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